Binance Withdrawals Surge amidst Regulatory Woes
• Binance withdrawals have surged to $852 million in 24 hours following a lawsuit from the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) accusing the exchange of multiple regulatory violations.
• CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ji criticized The Wall Street Journal’s report of $2 billion Ethereum outflows over the last seven days, deeming it FUD.
• Users have reported difficulty in off-ramping during this period via social media.
Increased Withdrawal Rates
Data from Nansen showed that Binance has experienced withdrawals of $1.6 billion since Monday, with more than half of that ($852 million) leaving the exchange in the last 24 hours – more than double the average daily withdrawal rate over the last two weeks ($385 million). Research Analyst at Nansen Martin Lee noted that although higher-than-expected, it was still below levels seen in December 2022 when fears over solvency were at their peak.
CFTC Lawsuit
On March 27, the CFTC filed a lawsuit against Binance, accusing them of operating a non-compliant cryptocurrency exchange and deliberately avoiding U.S law while providing access to American markets. CFTC Chair Rostin Behnam told CNBC that Binance had done this through a „direct, clear method“.
CryptoQuant CEO’s Response
CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ji stated that Binance processes billions of dollars worth of deposits and withdrawals daily and shared charts for Bitcoin and Ethereum reserves on Twitter – showing an uptick for Bitcoin but a downtrend for Etherium reserves. He then criticized The Wall Street Journal’s article as „ridiculous FUD.“
User Reports
A post on r/BinanceUS described cash withdrawal initiated over a week ago via ACH network which has yet to arrive; with customer service unable to provide any help or explanation about its whereabouts.